Manipur Home Minister Govindas Kunthujam said on Thursday that more than 38 civilians from Tangkhul Naga and Kuki communities were still being held hostage or unaccounted for.
Kunthugam was at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal East, visiting those injured in two separate attacks in Kangpokpi and Noni districts that killed three church leaders from the Tado-Kuki community and one person from the Tangkul Cheru community on Wednesday.
Three senior leaders of Thado Baptist Association (TBA) were killed and four others injured on Wednesday while returning to Kangpokpi from a TBA conference in Churachandpur when militants ambushed two vehicles between Kotzim and Kotlin. Eight people were traveling in the two vehicles. One escaped unharmed.
The Interior Minister said that more than 38 civilians from both communities (Tangkul Naga and Kuki) remain detained or whose fate is unknown, adding that the government, civil society organizations and political leaders are engaged in negotiations to secure their release and prevent further escalation.
“Such incidents continuing in the state deserve strong condemnation. As human beings, we should love each other. How long will it continue like this? We strongly suspect that there are some who do not want peace restored in the state,” Govindas, who was accompanied by three Naga legislators, said.
These incidents were reported to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs through the Intelligence Bureau (IB), he added.
Following the ambush, 18 civilians, including five men and 15 women from Konsakul, a Liangmai Naga village, were kidnapped from Lilon Phifei, a Kuki village in Kangbukpi district, on Wednesday afternoon. Security forces later launched rescue operations in the area.
According to the complaint filed by Tavo Kuki Village Authority Chairman Linkomang Chongloy, the accident occurred around 1:30 pm when seven trucks and one Maruti Alto carrying daily wage laborers from Tavo Kuki village were stopped at two locations near Senapati petrol pump in Rekhomai Tavo and at Viamai Tavo near Mount Everest College Gate in Senapati district, Manipur.
“It is still difficult to trace the hostages as their mobile phones are switched off; however, efforts are on to rescue them,” officers requesting anonymity told HT.
Meanwhile, Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), Kuki’s apex body, imposed a 48-hour lockdown in three districts of Manipur, including Kangpokpi, Churachandpur and Chandel. Zomi Students Federation (ZSF), a Churachandpur-based student organization, also imposed an indefinite lockdown in the town area of Churachandpur district from 6 pm on Wednesday, denouncing the killing of the three church leaders.
Chandel Naga People’s Organization has imposed a lockdown in Chandel district against the killing of a Naga in Noni district.
Several groups expressed their condemnation of the killing of the three church leaders.
The Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee expressed its condolences on the loss of the three church leaders, while the Ex-Mizo National Army Association called on the Manipur government and all authorities concerned to immediately initiate a comprehensive investigation to nab the culprits.
Meanwhile, Zoram People’s Movement, a political party based in Mizoram, condemned the killing of the three church leaders.
Moreover, the Indigenous Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a Kuki-Zu body based in Manipur, strongly condemned the killing of the three church leaders. “Targeting individuals dedicated to promoting peace and harmony clearly shows that the perpetrators do not desire peaceful coexistence in Manipur,” she said.
Manipur has been facing unrest since May 3, 2023. The violence has claimed more than 260 lives and displaced more than 60,000 people.
